Elvis & The Imposters with Nick Lowe & Los Straitjackets, Queen Elizabeth Theatre, Vancouver, Canada, June 7, 2023

Pretty self-explanatory
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Elvis & The Imposters with Nick Lowe & Los Straitjackets, Queen Elizabeth Theatre, Vancouver, Canada, June 7, 2023

Post by Man out of Time »

The "We're All Going On A Summer Holiday" tour, with Charlie Sexton, the Imposters and opening act Nick Lowe and Los Straitjackets, begins on June 7, 2023 at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre, Vancouver, BC, Canada.

The venue is named for its most famous patron, Queen Elizabeth II, who attended a concert here when the theatre opened in July 1959. The main auditorium seats 2,765. This is Elvis' first appearance at the theatre since 2019, when he opened for Neil Young on two nights in May.

The venue website previews the show thus:

"Live Nation presents Elvis Costello & The Imposters say We're All Going On A Summer Holiday Tour with special guest Charlie Sexton

Opening act: Nick Lowe & Los Straightjackets

Since returning to the road in the summer of 2021, in the guise of "Elvis Costello & The Layabouts", E.C. and The Imposters - Steve Nieve, Pete Thomas, Davey Faragher and augmented by Texas guitarist Charlie Sexton - have undertaken three tours in the United States and one in the U.K. and northern Europe. Most recently Costello played the highly acclaimed “100 Songs and More”, a ten-night engagement at the Gramercy Theater, NYC at which he played more than 230 original songs, repeating only three titles. The shows that began in solo performance went on to spring nightly surprises, involving everything from an ensemble including musical saw, fiddle and Uillean pipes to an eight-person Broadway vocal chorus led by M.D. Rob Mathes, duets with jazz bassist, Endea Owens and, from the halfway point, performing with Steve Nieve at the piano before adding two different horn sections, led by trumpet player and arranger, Michael Leonhart. The stand included guest vocal appearances by Rebecca Lovell, La Marisol and JSWISS and concluded with a more than three-hour finale performance with the full band line-up.

Since 2018, Costello has issued ten record releases: the most recent being, “The Songs of Bacharach & Costello,” a 4-CD, 2-LP box-set celebrating his nearly 30-year songwriting collaboration with Burt Bacharach. It was named Best New Reissue by Pitchfork. The Grammy Award-winning Elvis Costello and The Imposters album "Look Now" of 2018 was followed by the companion E.P., "Purse" while a French language E.P., "La Face Du Pendule à Coucou" followed the album, "Hey Clockface" - recorded in Helsinki and, Paris. Together with co-producer, Sebastian Krys, Costello also completed work on "Spanish Model" - an adaptation of 1978's album "This Year's Model" with new vocals recorded in lyrical adaptation and translation with a cast of Latin music performers. In 2022, the latest Elvis Costello and The Imposters release, "The Boy Named If," was followed into the stores by "The Resurrection of Rust,” - the recording debut after fifty years of Rusty - the duo of Liverpool-based singer-songwriters, D.P. MacManus and Allan Mayes, accompanied by The Imposters for new recordings of their 1972 repertoire including two Nick Lowe compositions from his days in the band Brinsley Schwarz."

Ticket prices range from CA $55 + taxes to CA $210 + taxes for the best Orchestra centre seats (instrument not provided). The show is popular with around 75% of seats sold. Tickets are still available across all sections of the theatre.

Who's going to be there?

MOOT
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Re: Elvis & The Imposters with Nick Lowe & Los Straitjackets, Queen Elizabeth Theatre, Vancouver, Canada, June 7, 2023

Post by sulky lad »

Hope you have a splendid time - bucket list to hear Elvis in Vancouver!
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Re: Elvis & The Imposters with Nick Lowe & Los Straitjackets, Queen Elizabeth Theatre, Vancouver, Canada, June 7, 2023

Post by johnfoyle »

https://twitter.com/Vancivictheatre/sta ... Fgqiw&s=19

Set times for Elvis Costello at the QET Jun 7
6:30 pm - doors
7:30 pm - Nick Lowe
8:15 pm - intermission
8:45 pm - Elvis Costello & The Imposters to approx. 11:00 pm

Enjoy the show!
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Re: Elvis & The Imposters with Nick Lowe & Los Straitjackets, Queen Elizabeth Theatre, Vancouver, Canada, June 7, 2023

Post by johnfoyle »

Via George on Facebook-


Great show tonight in Vancouver!

Someone forgot to turn on Nick's mic for PLU, and apparently Bob doesn't let him plug in his guitar, but so fun seeing these guys sing together!
Green Shirt
The Beat
Hetty O'Hara Confidential
Watch Your Step
Radio Radio
When I Was Cruel #2
Waiting for the End of the World
Newspaper Pane
Girls Talk/Lovable
Crown Around Town
Working Week/Working Man’s Blues
Watching the Detectives
Accidents Will Happen
Town Cryer/Love in Mind (Neil Young) /First Cut is the Deepest (Cat Stevens)
Toledo
Blood and Hot Sauce
Indoor Fireworks (w/Nick Lowe)
Peace Love and Understanding (w/Nick Lowe)
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Re: Elvis & The Imposters with Nick Lowe & Los Straitjackets, Queen Elizabeth Theatre, Vancouver, Canada, June 7, 2023

Post by Psc »

Wow, worth it just to hear The Beat and Town Cryer! Great setlist..
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Re: Elvis & The Imposters with Nick Lowe & Los Straitjackets, Queen Elizabeth Theatre, Vancouver, Canada, June 7, 2023

Post by Standstobeinsulted »

Given the name of the tour my flabber will be gasted if The Beat is not played every night
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Re: Elvis & The Imposters with Nick Lowe & Los Straitjackets, Queen Elizabeth Theatre, Vancouver, Canada, June 7, 2023

Post by Standstobeinsulted »

Given the name of the tour my flabber will be gasted if The Beat is not played every night
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Re: Elvis & The Imposters with Nick Lowe & Los Straitjackets, Queen Elizabeth Theatre, Vancouver, Canada, June 7, 2023

Post by Psc »

Ha of course, missed that! As they aren't touring the UK I didn't take much notice of the tour promotional stuff :wink:
It's not a matter of life or death. But what is, what is?
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Re: Elvis & The Imposters with Nick Lowe & Los Straitjackets, Queen Elizabeth Theatre, Vancouver, Canada, June 7, 2023

Post by Harry Lime »

I was going to stay away from looking at the setlist until my date with Elvis next month, but somebody on one of the Elvis Facebook groups was complaining about only new songs being played last night and how Elvis doesn't cater to his old fans. So, of course I had to peek and I...well, I just don't understand people. Lots of old songs last night--the set list looks great!

I think they were pissed he didn't play Alison.
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Re: Elvis & The Imposters with Nick Lowe & Los Straitjackets, Queen Elizabeth Theatre, Vancouver, Canada, June 7, 2023

Post by heyhermano »

Wow - Lovable!! Only the third time since 1989 according to the Wiki. Was it a single verse?
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Re: Elvis & The Imposters with Nick Lowe & Los Straitjackets, Queen Elizabeth Theatre, Vancouver, Canada, June 7, 2023

Post by Arbogast »

Where's the rest of the set list?
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Re: Elvis & The Imposters with Nick Lowe & Los Straitjackets, Queen Elizabeth Theatre, Vancouver, Canada, June 7, 2023

Post by Poor Deportee »

The set list was sublime, although I wouldn't have minded a song or two from "If." And what a treat to see the two legends performing together.

But tell me - am I the only one worried for EC's voice? It seems a bit of a struggle these days, maybe even with suggestions of vocal polyps; and the fact that this was the first show of the tour bodes poorly for its condition going forward, I'd think.
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Re: Elvis & The Imposters with Nick Lowe & Los Straitjackets, Queen Elizabeth Theatre, Vancouver, Canada, June 7, 2023

Post by njbp »

I say this with a heavy heart as a 1977 vintage fan, but his voice is shot, and it’s hard to ignore it. I’ve tried to for a number of years/gigs, but it’s unavoidable now. Someone who he listens to has to step in now and say we’ve got to find another way to make a living/make this work. As I say, this thought comes from a place of huge love and admiration.
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Re: Elvis & The Imposters with Nick Lowe & Los Straitjackets, Queen Elizabeth Theatre, Vancouver, Canada, June 7, 2023

Post by MOJO »

njbp wrote:I say this with a heavy heart as a 1977 vintage fan, but his voice is shot, and it’s hard to ignore it. I’ve tried to for a number of years/gigs, but it’s unavoidable now. Someone who he listens to has to step in now and say we’ve got to find another way to make a living/make this work. As I say, this thought comes from a place of huge love and admiration.
A few questions for you njbp:

How many live shows do you attend per month? (local + national acts)
How many EC shows have you attended in the last 5 years?

Before you throw an artist under the bus, the questions above might help us understand how much you are out there every week, every month listening to live music.

Vintage fan already indicates perhaps you are not in tune with anything and that includes attending live music events. No offense to you, just a hunch. So please provide us some insight on your worldly live music events in the last 5 years or make it 8 because we lost 2 to the pandemic. Chuckleheads, like me, patiently await your reply… toodles
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Re: Elvis & The Imposters with Nick Lowe & Los Straitjackets, Queen Elizabeth Theatre, Vancouver, Canada, June 7, 2023

Post by Charles »

As someone who was at the show last night (my 14th EC show of the year), his voice was absolutely fine. Observations are one thing, but these incessant critiques are just boring.
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Re: Elvis & The Imposters with Nick Lowe & Los Straitjackets, Queen Elizabeth Theatre, Vancouver, Canada, June 7, 2023

Post by sweetest punch »

Since you put me down, it seems i've been very gloomy. You may laugh but pretty girls look right through me.
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Re: Elvis & The Imposters with Nick Lowe & Los Straitjackets, Queen Elizabeth Theatre, Vancouver, Canada, June 7, 2023

Post by Poor Deportee »

I don't agree that his voice is "absolutely fine." Maybe someone who goes to a dozen shows a year becomes acclimated to it, but it is seriously damaged goods compared to where it was just a few years ago. Now, it does seem as good as ever when he goes high or low, but there is clearly a midrange zone where it just refuses to cooperate. Everything else about his live act is simply stellar, of course, from the setlists to the re-arrangements to the patter to the band.

I also don't agree that this means he needs to find a new line of work (!!!). But I would argue that he needs either (a) to get his vocal chords looked at for possible polyps or (b) learn to sing in a different way. His voice is no longer up to the demands of his old strategies. I'm no expert but I suspect a more relaxed approach would yield good results.

From a couple of remarks at the Vancouver show, he implied some intense rehearsals in the days prior. That kind of thing may also be unwise. He should rest his voice as much as possible.

It's not easy to change habits of a lifetime, but he can take a page from Bob Dylan, who completely adjusted his singing over the course of the 1990s and beyond to work with his ravaged voice. EC seems a stubborn fellow, though, so I can see him doggedly ploughing ahead without altering his approach.
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Re: Elvis & The Imposters with Nick Lowe & Los Straitjackets, Queen Elizabeth Theatre, Vancouver, Canada, June 7, 2023

Post by sweetest punch »

Since you put me down, it seems i've been very gloomy. You may laugh but pretty girls look right through me.
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Re: Elvis & The Imposters with Nick Lowe & Los Straitjackets, Queen Elizabeth Theatre, Vancouver, Canada, June 7, 2023

Post by Man out of Time »

Review by Tom Zillich published in Surrey Now on June 9, 2023.

"CONCERT REVIEW: More misses than hits for Elvis Costello & The Imposters in Vancouver

At the QE the band should have pumped it up, as the landmark song suggests

Elvis Costello is a rock music legend, but his tour-kickoff concert in Vancouver was anything but legendary.

Sketchy sound, off-note vocals, an under-rehearsed band and questionable song choices cooled a warm night at Queen Elizabeth Theatre on Wednesday, June 7.

It was the first date of many on a “We’re All Going On A Summer Holiday” tour by Costello & The Imposters, whose members include Charlie Sexton on guitar and some of the frontman’s longtime bandmates (Steve Nieve on keys, Pete Thomas on drums, Davey Faragher on bass).

Old pal Nick Lowe opened the show backed by Los Straightjackets, the Nashville surf-rock band whose players wear Mexican wrestling masks on stage.

That was fun.

The crowd buzzed when Costello walked to the stage, introduced the band and launched into a lounge-y version of “Green Shirt,” a cut from 1979’s Armed Forces album. The song was first of 18 performed Wednesday (detailed on setlist.fm).

Costello tells great stories, like the time he wrote “Radio Radio” in an attempt to copy Bruce Springsteen’s style.

The New Wave-era classic “Girls Talk” was rearranged, as were a few other oldies. Kudos for taking some risks and not just repeating past glories.

Lowe returned to the stage for encore renditions of “Indoor Fireworks” and “(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding,” which closed the show.

Youtuber “dobwat” posted decent video of “Indoor Fireworks,” as seen below.




Ballads were many — too many. I would have loved to hear the band pump it up, as the landmark song suggests.

Overall it was clear that Costello and band were trying to find a groove on the first night of a concert tour. Some slack should be cut, but they just didn’t gel often (or well) enough.

Bet on better shows as the Costello tour stretches into July in North America (Vancouver is the only Canadian date listed on tour.elviscostello.com), followed by late-summer and fall concerts in Europe."

MOOT
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Re: Elvis & The Imposters with Nick Lowe & Los Straitjackets, Queen Elizabeth Theatre, Vancouver, Canada, June 7, 2023

Post by verbal gymnastics »

Underrehearsed is not a word I’d associate with Elvis and the boys.
Who’s this kid with his mumbo jumbo?
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Re: Elvis & The Imposters with Nick Lowe & Los Straitjackets, Queen Elizabeth Theatre, Vancouver, Canada, June 7, 2023

Post by Charles »

verbal gymnastics wrote:Underrehearsed is not a word I’d associate with Elvis and the boys.
“questionable song choices” That’s a hoot!
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